Book Talk: Wendell McConnaha - Losing Sight of the Shore

Losing Sight of the Shore Book Talk with Wendell McConnaha

December 7th, 2025

2:00pm - 3:00pm

Free, RSVP Required

(RSVP includes Museum access)

A fascinating history of the lives of five Scottish medical explorers set in the context of British dominance in exploration, Wendell McConnaha's work Losing Sight of the Shore takes the reader through the profiles five medical explorers in detail, this is not a biography but a history which aims to understand and explain the ideology and philosophy of agroup of Edinburgh-trained physicians and surgeons; and how their interaction within the political, cultural, intellectual, and social context of the time helped define the British Imperial Century.

Books will be available for signing and purchase.

About the Author:

"I am a retired university professor and administrator having spent the past fifty years working in the field of education. My academic preparation includes a Ph.D. from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana , an EdSp. from the University of Nebraska, Omaha; an M.A. and M.S. also from the University of Nebraska; and a B.A. from Wayne State College, Nebraska. I have been drawn to international work throughout my career and I have been most fortunate to work and consult around the world. I retired from the University of Pittsburgh in 2014 and accepted a three-year position with Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Prior to Pittsburgh, I spent three years at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi and eight years at the University of Chicago in addition to other academic positions. Since the 1990s I have consulted extensively with governments and institutions of higher education in Chile, China, Indonesia, Nigeria, Romania, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and within the United States. I am now fully retired and continue to conduct research and write. I live with my wife, Judy, and our two cats, in Chicago." - Wendell McConnaha